Fry's body rests on the floor only a few feet away from Alex. His face is contorted into a horrified, pained expression. His clothes and skin are singed and charred as though he ran through a fire, and his hair is still sizzling.
But that's not what horrifies Alex. What horrifies him is the gaping chunk of flesh taken out of Fry's throat.
The wound is the size of a softball and it's jagged and rough. It's as though a large dog ripped his throat out. The exposed flesh is charred black and reeks of burning flesh. It's so deep that Fry's esophagus is exposed and small, white chunks of spine appear at the very deepest parts. His head is held onto his shoulders by only a small strip of skin, flesh, and spine. Everything else has been incinerated.
This… this isn't happening! Alex's frustration and despair instantly evaporate and are replaced by an overwhelming sense of fear. This is not due to Fry's death, or seeing his corpse, but rather what seeing it here implies.
I-it's playing with me! It wants to see me struggle and squirm! Alex has decided to call the psychopath an "it" from now on. Only an "it" is capable of something like this. Not a "he" or a "she." Not a human.
It ripped out Fry's vocal chords so he couldn't cry for help! It somehow cauterized the wound before blood could flow! It hid Fry's body from me! It trapped me in the closet so it could bring the body back! It wants me to see it! It wants me to know it's there! To know it can do anything! To know that I'm helpless to stop it!
Alex recognized the malice of the creature because he has seen similar malice before. Some of the homeless people he once knew went insane because of their terrible lives and their rampant abuse of drugs. They liked to toy with others and inflict pain for the fun of it.
Of course, he's also met one or two people who were simply born that way. Vile, cruel people who view themselves as superior to all others. People who play with others' pain and suffering for their own amusement, before finally ending them. Alex suspects the creature is one such being.
Seeing how easily it dispatched Fry, it could have killed Alex at any moment, without anyone noticing a thing. But instead, it has followed Alex all night, using every chance it got to torment him.
The singed rodent that attacked Alex was probably running away from the creature. Whether that was when it noticed him, or just when it started harassing him, Alex doesn't know.
After that, it set up a gruesome bonfire in his path to incite fear in Alex. When it noticed Alex's interaction with the dog, it killed it and set it where Alex could see.
Even worse, it let Alex safely stay in Tetanus Town. This gave him a sense of hope, and gave him a sense of safety. Only for it to tear that sense of security down by setting fire to the pawn shop and displaying Fry's corpse.
Alex wouldn't be surprised if, when he returns to the market and sleeping quarters, everyone he met there will be dead. Each covered in burns and gruesomely mauled, as if ripped apart by some beast.
Of course, that's if Alex makes it back alive. Who's to say this isn't the part where the creature kills him right now?
With that final thought, Alex widens his eyes and frantically jerks his vision around the room. He twists his hips and swivels his neck as much as possible, trying his best to spot where the creature is hiding.
At the same time, he unsheaths his knife and holds it shakingly out. "Get out here, you bastard!" He shouts to nowhere in particular. "If you want to kill me, do it already!" He's a bit surprised by his own words, but he doesn't stop. "Do it! Show yourself and kill me!"
Alex knows that he doesn't stand a chance against the creature, but he's not shouting to provoke it. Well, maybe a little. Instead, this is to test if he's allowed to live a little longer. If the creature still wants to toy with him, it won't attack and may even allow him to escape. If it doesn't, at least he'll die fighting.
Alex plants his feet firmly on the ground and steadies his grip on his knife. He strengthens his will and shouts one last thunderous time. "Fight me! Kill me! Now! Do it now!" However, there is no response.
There is no sound of movement, no smell of blood, no pain flaring from a sneak attack, nothing. It seems that the creature isn't done playing with its food.
Alex lets out a small, imperceptible sigh of relief. Thank God I'm so entertaining. Then he darts back through the kitchen, ignoring Fry's body, and aims for a closed door at the opposite wall.
He runs so fast that he almost slams into the door, but he stops just in the nick of time. He grasps the door handle, not caring to check its temperature, and flings the door open.
On the other side is another wooden dining area. It's engulfed in flames that reach several feet into the air. A thick cloud of smoke fills most of the room and most of the furniture has been reduced to ash. The rest have been made into massive bonfires with flames that reach the ceiling.
Alex's skin stings just by being in such close proximity to the flames, and his throat burns as he inhales the smoke. Despite this, his eyes glimmer with hope, for he sees an escape.
Situated tens of feet away is a metal emergency exit door. If he can reach it, Alex might stand a chance of surviving. Of course, he'll have to deal with the creature after that, but he's decided not to worry about that right now.
Instead, he pulls up his hood, wraps his raincoat tightly around himself, pulls his hands into his sleeves, and walks into the room.
Instantly, a wave of heat washes over him and his throat and eyes burn from the smoke. It had been funneled by the doorway before, but now he's experiencing its full force! Alex hisses at the sensation, but then grits his teeth and steps forward.
He can't move fast, unless he wants to die. The flames are packed densely and the smoke impairs his vision, making it nearly impossible to see.
He does his best to take a route devoid of fire, but more than once his shoes pass through peripheral flames. This causes surges of pain to shoot through his legs and the soles of his shoes even start to melt.
Once, one of his pant legs is set ablaze by a stray ember. Once it does, Alex grunts in agony and hurriedly pats the fire out, leaving a hole in his pants and charred skin beneath.
Another time, the plastic sleeve of his raincoat gets too close to one of the bonfires and starts to melt. It scalds Alex's skin and sizzles loudly. He hurriedly pulls his arm away, but the damage and pain remains.
On the plus side, the pain keeps him aware. He's inhaling so much smoke that his thoughts are already becoming murky.
Despite this, he keeps moving forward, one step at a time. The lack of oxygen makes his thoughts short and hazy, but one prevalent goal remains. Reach the door! Reach the door! Reach the door!
With this mantra guiding him, Alex finally makes it just a few feet away from the door. He reaches out his hand to push it open, but he's stopped mid-motion by a loud crack and a rush of wind.
Suddenly, a large hunk of wood falls out of the air and slams onto the floor in front of the door, nearly hitting Alex. Embers flare out from the impact and spread the fires.
One of the rafters had collapsed!
If it weren't for his murky thoughts, Alex would have certainly blamed the creature for this.
But instead, he barely reacts in time and jumps backward out of the way. His feet land directly in the flames of the fire and torturous pain surges through him. It gives him a moment of clarity and hops out of the flames and to one of the few clear spaces left.
However, his brief exposure to the fire has already set the bottoms of his pants alight! So, before the fire can spread further, Alex uses his knife to roughly slash his pants off at the knees, ignoring when he nicks himself. The pant legs fall around his shoes and he hastily kicks them off, ignoring the extreme pain it brings him.
Then, he turns his gaze back to the emergency exit. The chunk of wood that fell from the rafter is large, but not unavoidable. Not only that, but the impact from its fall has forcefully wedged the door slightly open.
I won't have to push the handlebar, just a strong impact will open the door. The flames in front of it aren't that tall yet. If I jump, it'll hurt, but I might survive.
The plan is terrible and illogical, even to Alex, but with his clouded mind, it's the best he can come up with. So, without wasting time, he grits his teeth, bends his knees, steels himself, and jumps.
For half a second he's in the air, free of the fire. In the next half second, he passes over the chunk of wood and his shins are engulfed in flames.
The pain is exquisite. The flames lick at his bare flesh and the heat penetrates his skin. His skin turns pink and then black in an instant. The pain spikes through his legs like red-hot needles and sends Alex's mind into chaos.
Then, he slams into the door and it forcefully swings open. Alex falls to the concrete on the ground and slides for a few moments. The slide scrapes the ash off his skin and scrapes open his burns, revealing ghastly red flesh underneath.
Alex screams in pain and erratically spasms and rolls in an instinctive attempt to get away from the pain. But this only causes it to worsen and his pain-filled mind to become more chaotic.
Finally, after almost a minute of torture, Alex's muddled mind clears just enough for him to lie still on the ground. His entire body aches and burns, but a small laugh escapes Alex's mouth.
Each laugh brings him indescribable pain, but he does it anyway, because he's realized something. "I'm dead. I'm a dead man walking. If I barely survived that, then I won't even live through the night. I'm dead!"